More than 70 people may have died when a bridge collapsed yesterday evening in northern Portugal as a bus and two cars were crossing.
Portugal's Public Works Minister Mr Jorge Coelho said it was thought the death toll from what would be one of Portugal's worst disasters in living memory could be as high as 70 people.
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The minister, whose department has responsibility for road and rail transport, added he had submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Mr Antonio Guterres, who immediately accepted it.
One body has so far been recovered after the bus, believed to be carrying 67 local people on a day-trip, plunged into the Douro river near the town of Castelo de Paiva.
But officials said there is little hope of finding many people alive. The bus and the two cars fell some 150 feet into the river swollen by prolonged heavy rain after the 116-year-old bridge suddenly gave way at around 9 p.m. (GMT). It is not known how many people were in the cars.